Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: Sansom@uthscsa.edu

There is still hope to stop your addiction.
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You are not in an impossible situation; there is hope. If you are dependent on alcohol or other drugs, you can have hope for a full recovery!

That is the spirit of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which is observed every September in cities throughout the U.S. and is sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This national event showcases the benefits of treatment programs, honors treatment providers and promotes the message that “recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders in all its forms is possible.”

One of the leading addiction research centers in the country is the START Center. The START Center is part of the Behavioral Wellness (Be Well) Center for Clinical Trials in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The START Center is at the forefront of research to find medications that, in concert with behavioral therapy, can help patients break the chains of addictions.

“We have good evidence that certain medications work certain ways in certain people, and one thing we are trying to do is predict which ones will work best in which individuals,” said John D. Roache, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the Health Science Center and scientific director of both the Be Well Center and the START Center.

The START Center has just finished studying a potential new treatment for cocaine dependence. Nationally, 50 percent of cocaine addicts drop out of therapy and only 10 percent make a full recovery. The START Center study, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in partnership with a pharmaceutical company (Cephalon Inc.), examined the efficacy and safety of a medication called modafinil in 36 patients locally and more than 200 nationally. Although the data have not been fully analyzed, Dr. Roache said the treatment looks promising.

“Our sense is that the patients did very well,” he said. “I am optimistic that the outcomes of our participants will represent an improvement on the national statistics – possibly double the number of full recoveries. It is a small trial, of course, so we need to take that into account, but combined with the results of other studies, we think modafinil is very promising.” The study participants came to the START Center to quit, aiding recovery prospects. However, even among willing individuals, there has been no medication, yet, that has made a proven difference to increase abstinence from cocaine, Dr. Roache noted.

The START Center and BeWell Center also are leading a study of the medication, Lofexidine, used to detoxify individuals with opiate dependence. NIDA is sponsoring the study in partnership with US WorldMeds LLC. Based on early study observation, Dr. Roache said lofexidine appears to have fewer side effects than clonidine, the existing medication for opiate withdrawal. “Medication helps the addicted person to say, ‘I can do this – I can recover, and then it makes the process a little easier’” Dr. Roache said. “Although medications are an aid to potentially reduce the drug effects promoting dependence and improve and stabilize a person’s emotions, you can’t just take a pill and have all your problems go away. Medication can reverse negative chemical and electrical changes that occur in the brain over the addiction cycle, and genetics plays a huge role in this. But equally important is the behavioral component where cognitive-behavioral therapy can help a patient to understand and avoid behaviors that maintain addiction and to escape from stressful situations that led to relapse.”

The Recovery Month theme is that it is possible to fully recover. “Many people have gone through programs that have the premise that is there is always a risk of relapse. That is a very unfortunate perspective,” Dr. Roache said. “Our message is that patients who have become abstinent and are doing well in their recovery can expect at some point to be considered recovered and not forever on a slippery slope of relapse. There is a point of full recovery, and that is a good place to be.”

For more information on the BeWell Center’s programs, call (210) 562-5400.

Note: It may be possible to identify a study participant to do an anonymous interview.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $500 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $34 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 20,500 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, stroke prevention, heart disease, diabetes, aging, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry, allied health, public health preparedness and other fields. More information is available at www.uthscsa.edu.